Automatic train control and signal apparatus.



W. E. 'BACKUS.

AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL AND SIGNAL APPARATUS.

APPLICATION me!) nor. 20. 1911.

1 292 9 1 Patented Feb. 4, 1919.

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w E. BACKUS.

AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL AND SIGNAL APPARATUS.

- APPLICATION FILED OCT. Z6, 19!]- Patented Feb. 4: 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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OF F-ITCHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL AND SIGNALAPPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 4, 1919.

Application filed. October 26, 1917. Serial No. 198,710.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. BACKUS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fitchburg,.in the county of Worcester and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in AutomaticTrain Control and Signal Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in automatic traincontrolling and signaling apparatus.

The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which may be usedeither with or without the ordinary block signaling instrument withoutin the least interfering with the said block signaling instrument toapply the brakes on a train which is approaching dangerously near orwithin a predetermined distance of a train ahead.

Another object of the invention is to provide means arranged'within the.operating compartment of the train and adapted to be operatedsimultaneously with the train controlling means for operating a signalfor the purpose of Warning the operator of the train that there isdanger ahead.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set.forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out intheclaims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of the control valve of anapparatus embodying my invention and shown connected with an engineersvalve and a portion of the brake pipe of the train, the housing for thecontrol valve being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a truck, showing the arrangement of thebrush and its relation to the contact member.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of a single track system equippedwith an apparatus embodying my invention.

g. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a two track system equipped with mydevice.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of thedrawings.

In the drawings, 1 is a valve casing which is connected by a pipe 2,with an engineers valve 3. A brake pipe 4:, sometimes referred to as thetrain pipe, is connected with the casing 1 and also communicates withthe brake reservoir 5, preferably through a triple valve 6, all of whichparts, except the and well known to those skilled in the art. The casing1 also has connected therewith a pipe 7 which has, at its end, a whistle8.

-Within the valve casing 1 is a rotary valve 9, preferablya two-wayvalve, having a passage 10, which, under normal conditions, is adaptedto provide communication between the pipe 2 and the pipe 4 and at othertimes said passage is adapted to be moved so as to provide communicationbetween the brake pipe 4 and the Whistle pipe 7 The valve 9 has a lever11 attached to the spindle 12 of said valve, said lever having a handle13 by means of which the lever 11 and said valve may be set, by theoperator of the train in a position to provide communication between thepipe 2 and the pipe 4:, which position is shown in Fig. 1. A spring 1 1is attached to the lever 11 and also to a bracket 15, clamped to thepipe 2, and this spring is arranged to exert a yielding pressure uponsaid lever lltending to close said valve and thereby cut offcommunication between the pipe 2 and the pipe 4 and to opencommunication between the pipe 4: and the pipe 7.

It is therefore necessary to provide means for holding the lever 11 inthe position shown in Fig. 1, and for this purpose a trigger 16 ispivoted at 17, preferably upon a bracket 18, clamped to the pipe 41-.The trigger 16 has a tooth 19 adapted to engage a corresponding tooth 20on the lever 11.

spring 21 yieldingly maintains the trigger 16 in engagement with saidlever 11, thus holding said lever in its open position.

At the proper time the trigger 16 is adapted to be tripped, preferablyby electro-magnetic means, including a coil 22 which is preferablyattached, by means of clamps 23, 23, to the pipe 4:. This coil, whenenergized, is adapted to attract an armature 24 attached to the end ofthe trigger 16.

The mechanism hereinbefore described is preferably inclosed in a casing25 with only the pipes 2, 4: and 7 and the handle 13 protrudingtherefrom, thus preventing the operator from interfering with saidmechanism. This casing 25 and the engineers valve are arranged in theoperating compartment of the train or within the locomotive, whicheverthe case may be, and said electro-magnetic device is connected, by meansof suitable conductors, with contact I devices carried by a truck ofrolling stock.

The preferred means employed in carrying out this part of the inventionconsists of a conductor 26 attached at one end to a binding post 27 onthe casing 25, said binding post being connected, within said casing, tothe coil 22, bymeans of a wire 28. The other end of the conductor 26extends downwardly and is attached, preferably at 29, on the frame of atruck 30.

Mounted upon the truck 30, on brackets 31, 31 fast to said truck, is arunning board 32 constituting a support for a contact member, preferablya brush 33, and this brush is mounted to slide vertically in an insulating bushing 34 attached to said running board, and a spring 35 maintainssaid brush in its lowermost position.

The upper end of the brush 33 is attached to one end of a conductor 36,the other end of said conductor being attached to one pole 37 of aswitch 38 mounted upon the exterior of the casing 25. The switch 38 is aknife blade switch and the knife blade thereof is pivoted to the pole 37and adapted to be moved into engagement with a contact 39 attached tosaid casing.

-A wire 40 provides communication between said contact 39 and the coil22 so that when the electric circuit, including said coil, is closedsaid coil will be energized and the armature 24 attracted thereby. Thewheels 41 of the truck 30 are adapted to roll along a track 42,consisting of rails 43 and 44. The rail 43 is constructed of a series ofrail sections electrically connected together inthe usual manner and therail 44 is constructed of a series of rail sections insulated from eachother at predetermined intervals, as shown at 45.

Arranged along the side of the track 42 and at predetermined distancesapart are contact members 46, preferably consisting of short sections ofrails, mounted upon suitable brackets 47 and'beveled at their forwardends at 48 so that the brush 33, which is adapted to engage said rail,will ride upwardly on said beveled portion to the upper edge of saidrail and pass along said rail to the end.

The contact members 46 are each connected by a conductor 49, preferablywith a storage battery 50, arranged at suitable points along the trackand each battery is, in turn, connected by a conductor 51 with one ofthe insulated sections of the rail 44, preferably the section in advanceof the one which lies adjacent to the contact mem ber 46.

The contact members are disposed far enough from the insulated section,to which they are connected, to permit a train to come to a stop beforeit reaches said insulated section after. engaging the contact member 46.This system is adaptable either to a, single track railroad, as shown inFig. 3, or to a double track railroad, as illustrated in Fig. 4. Whenapplied to the single track system it will be necessary to provide asecond set of contact members. The first set, which is shown beneath therail 44, takes care of traflic moving in the direction of the arrow (1,but when the trafiic is going in the opposite direction, as shown by thearrow 6, the second set of contact members, which are indicated by thenumeral 46, will be utilized.

These members, however, are connected in the very same manner to theinsulated section 44 as described in connection with the contact members46, for instance, the member 46 is connected, by a conductor 49". to abattery 50 and the battery 50 is connected, by a conductor 51, with theinsulated rail section 44 just in advance of'the insulated section lyingnearest to the contact member 46.

In Fig. 4, A represents a track with sections which are the equivalentof those used in the form shown in Fig. 3 when traffic is moving in thedirection of the arrow A, and the track shown at B is utilized, andsubstantially identical with the form shown in Fig. 3, when traffic ismoving in the direction of the arrow B, the only exception being thatthe insulated rail sections 44 are placed nearer to the contact members46 instead of necessitating the conductors 51 being carried underneaththe track to the opposite rail, as shown in Fig. 3.

The movement of the truck 30 of the rolling stock, with a brush 33attached thereto, along the track, causes said brush to suecessivelyengage the contact members 46. If there is no obstruction in the sectiondirectly ahead nothing will happen but should there be a train, car orlocomotive in the section immediately ahead of that into which the trainis just entering, electrical connection will be provided between therail 43 and the opposite section 44, through the wheels and axle, forinstance, in Fig. 3 30 represents a truck of a train which has stoppedat the point indicated. This train may have been going in the directionof the arrow at or 7). 30 indicates a train, car or locomotive which, wewill assume, is traveling in the direction of the arrow 6 with the brush33 on the right side thereof, which is the correct position of thebrush. lVhen said brush is moved into contact with the contact member 46of the insulated rail section 44 next to that engaging the truck 30 anelectric circuit will be completed, through the conductor 49, battery 50and conductor 51 of the rail sections 44, thence across the track,through the axle and the Wheels of the truck 30*, to the electricallyconnected rai'l sections 43, from whence it passes to the wheels of thetruck 30 upwardly, through the conductor 26, binding post 27 andwire 28to the coils 22, thence '14:, to rotate thevalve 9 to cut oficommunication between the brake pipe 4: and the engineers valve 3, butto open communication between the brake pipe 4: and the whistle 8.

When communication between the brake pipe 4 and the whistle pipe 7 iscompleted I the pressure of air within said brake pipe is decreased byreason of the air escaping through the whistle 8 and in consequencethereof the brakes of the train will be applied in the usual manner andalso the whistle will be sounded, indicating to the operator that thereis danger ahead and not only indicating to him this fact but also inapplying the brakes to stop the train. This is accomplished withoutinterfering in the least with the engineers valve, thereby maintainingpressure in the main reservoir of the brake system and permitting onlythe air within the brake reservoir and brake pipe to reduce in pressure.

It will be noted, however, inFig. 1, that the port 52, through which theair must pass, is very much reduced in size and this reduction is forthe purpose of retarding the escape of air between the brake pipe so asnot to apply the brakes too suddenly and not to permit all of the airwithin the brake reservoir to discharge within a reasonable time, thatis, within a time sufiicient to permit the operator to reset the valve 9by moving the lever 11 into its supporting position, as shown in Fig. 1.This the operator does immediately after the train comes to a stop or isslowing down and after the whistle blows, and must be accomplishedbefore the brakes can be released and the train again started.

If, for any reason, the operator does not wish to have the deviceoperate automatically these instlrumentalities may be disabled byopening the switch 38 and the circuit, including the electro-magneticdevice and brush, will be broken.

Having thus specifically described my invention what I claim and desireby Letters Patent to secure is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described a valve casing, an engineersvalve having communication with said casing, pipe connected with saidcasing, a whistle also connected with said casing, a two-way valvearranged within said casing, adapted to provide communication eitherbetween said brake pipe and said engineers valve a brake or between saidbrake pipe and said whistle, a lever attached to said valve, a triggeradapted to engage said lever to hold said valve in the first namedposition, a spring attached to said lever, and an electro-magneticdevice adapted to operate said trigger to release said lever, wherebysaid spring may move said valve to the second named position.

2. The combination of a casing, an engineers valve, having communicationwith said casing, a brake pipe connected with said casing, a valvearranged in said casing, adapted to be operated to open and closecommunication between said engineers valve and said brake pipe, meansfor holding said valve in its open position, normally inactiveelecflro-magnetic means adapted to release said holding means, a track,a contact member arranged adjacent .to said track, means for providingelectrical connection between said track and said electro -magneticmeans and between said contact member and said electro magnetic means, apiece of rolling stock on said track, and means carried by said rollingstock, adapted to provide electrical connection between said contactmember and said track, whereby said electro-magnetic means may beoperated.

3. The combination of a track including a pair of rails, one of saidrails constitutlng an electrically united series of rail sections, theother of said rails consisting of a plurality of insulated railsections, a contact member arranged adjacent to said track, means forproviding electrical connection between said contact member and one ofsaid insulated sections at a predetermined distance in advance of theinsulated section adjacent to said contact member, a piece of rollingstock, adapted to move along said track, and a brush carried by saidrolling stock, adapted to contact with said contact member and provideelectrical connection between said contact member and the electricallyconnected -rail sections.

4. The combination of a track including a serie of electricallyconnected rail secelectro-magnetic device when a connection is madebetween said electrically connected sections and the insulated sectionin circuit with the contact member engaged by said brush.

5. The combination of a track including a series of electricallyconnected rail sections and a series of insulated sections; contactmembers disposed adjacent to each of said insulated sections, means forelectrically connecting-each of said contact members With I an advanceinsulated section, a piece of rolling stock, an electro -magnetic devicecarried by said rolling stock, means, including portions ofsaid rollingstock, adapted to electrically connect aid el ectro-magnetic device withsaid electrically connected rail sections, and a brush having insulatedconnection With said rolling stock, adapted to engage said contactmember to complete an electric circuit, through said electromagneticdevice when a connection is made between said electrically connectedsections and the insulated section in circuit With the contact memberengaged by said brush.

6The combination of a track including a series of electrically connectedrail sections and a series of insulated sections; contact membersdisposed adjacent to each' of said insulated sections, means forelectrically connecting each of said contact members with an advanceinsulated section, a pieceof rolling stock, an electro-magnetic devicecarried by said rolling stock, means, includ- When connection is madebetween said electrlcally connected sections and the insulated sectionin circuit With the contact member engaged by said brush.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

WILLIAM E. BAGKUS. Witnesses:

S. Ln RoY LoNcLnY, MONROE J. 'BACKUS.

Copies cf this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G."

